absentee

See also: absentée

English

Etymology

absent + -ee

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌæb.sn̩ˈti/
  • Rhymes: -iː

Noun

absentee (plural absentees)

  1. A person who is absent from his or her employment, school, post, duty, etc. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][1]
  2. (chiefly Britain, historical) A landholder who lives in another district or country than the one in which his estate is situated. [First attested in the early 17th century.][1]
    • 1840, Lord Byron, “Letter 374: to Mr. Moore (24 May 1820)”, in John Murray, editor, The Works of Lord Byron: With His Letters and Journals, and His Life, page 317:
      My trustees are going to lend Earl Blessington sixty thousand pounds (at six per cent.) on a Dublin mortgage. Only think of my becoming an Irish absentee!
  3. One that is nonexistent or lacking.
  4. A voter that is not present at the time of voting; absentee voter. [First attested in the early 20th century.][1]

Translations

Adjective

absentee (not comparable)

  1. (attributive) Pertaining to one that is absent. [First attested in the mid 19th century.][1]

Translations

References

  1. “absentee” in Lesley Brown, editor, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 8.
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